These are some catch-up notes from random red (and rose) wines drunk at home with dinner over the past month or so.
Gamay and Pinot:
2000 Domaine Diochon Moulin-a-Vent Vielles Vignes. A bit dull in color, this wine also shows a good deal of fading at the rim. It starts out with aromatics that are a bit on the tame side, slowly opening up to pretty notes of black raspberries, cinnamon and orange peel. It begins to turn more serious-toned after a while, pulling in darker notes of tobacco, suede and dark soil. It is gentle and certainly resolved in the mouth. It has a bright sour character, featuring flavors of sour cherry, dark berries and smoke, along with a sort of inner mouth perfume of red flowers and suede. The fruit and body are on the light side, but it has some good persistence on the softly-spiced finish. The sour elements begin to detract after a while, however, and I’d say it is time to drink up.
2006 Pali Wine Company Pinot Noir Inman Olivet Vineyard Russian River Valley. This was from a 375 ml bottle, showing a bit pale purple in color. It offers up an airy nose of gentle dark berries, rhubarb and cherries, soft brown stems, barrel spices and a bit of chocolate powder down at the roots. It is similarly airy in the mouth, with a light frame to it. It shows a very nice burst of citrus-tinged mixed berry fruit that seems tightly balled up, with spices dancing around the center. It is pleasant, but could stand to find greater length and a bit more resolution to some warm alcohol character that sneaks in toward the finish.
2005 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Brosseau Vineyard Chalone. I was a bit taken aback by the profile of this California pinot, as it opens up with a decided streak of sweaty horse, saddle leather and earthy funk aromas that eventually settle down to a profile of suede, tobacco, birch beer, dark cherry and raspberry, cocoa and sous bois undergrowth that seems a bit Burgundian in tone. In the mouth, it is medium-bodied but has plenty of bass note density to it and a good deal of bright cherry, brambly berry and citrusy fruit stuffing, as well. It is smooth early on, but as the evening wears on it starts to show more in the way of jagged acidic edges. Still, it never loses its fine sense of drive and that seems to help overcome those occasional rough patches. Overall, I like it a good deal.
2003 Landmark Pinot Noir Grand Detour Sonoma County. This wine features a delightfully overt and sexy nose that is absolutely redolent of sweet cherry compote, rich mixed berries, spice cake, clove, sarsaparilla, caramel, creosote, ripe stems and oak. It is expansive and generous and eventually begins to take on some really interesting sous bois characteristics, as well. In the mouth, it features bright yet full flavors of cherry liqueur, rhubarb, mixed berries and wood spices in a sexy and richly-textured package with plenty of volume and a solid lactic-feeling underbelly. It pumps out a lot of flavor, with the fine tannins largely staying in the background. The finish is even-keeled, but with a bit of wood and menthol sticking out from time to time. Other than that, this is really lovely and ought to hold easily for another few years.
Italians:
2008 Cataldi Madonna Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Cerasuolo Rosato. This is fairly dark pink in color, with a nice bouquet full of sweet red berries, red flowers, granite rockiness and bricks, accented by some sour cherry and citrus overtones on occasion. In the mouth, it features tart cranberry, rhubarb and citrus flavors. It has a good bit of medium-weight body to it—feeling a bit expansive despite the crisp structure and lively acids. Some distinct but slightly bitter minerality starts to become apparent toward the back of the palate, but the overall memory is one of nice tangy berries, red flowers and citrus.
2007 Tenuta Villa Rosa Poggio ai Rovi Toscana IGT. Although I see no vintage date anywhere on the label or cork, the shop I bought this from tells me it is from the 2007 vintage. It has a light, tangy, berry-laden nose with a hint of brawnier earth underneath. It is super-tart in the mouth, and a bit toughly austere. It fleshes out a bit with food, but still stays fiercely acidic. Some green herbal notes come in toward the finish, which unfortunately is a bit shrill at this stage. Overall, I don’t get much pleasure out of this.
2003 Argiano Rosso di Toscana Il Duemilatre di Argiano IGT. The nose on this wine starts out seemingly more international-styled than the previous bottle I had a few months back--offering up sweet and dense aromas of dark red cherry and currant fruit and a hint of girl scout thin mint cookies. However, with some time in the glass, some nice traditional aromas start to find their way to the fore, such as dusty earth and leafy forest underbrush notes. In the mouth, it shows a lot of stuffing in a youthful package, featuring big warm flavors of cherry, raspberry, earth and dark chocolate that also have a nice juiciness to them. It does show a sliver of alcoholic warm at times and the abundant tannins give a bit of leathery feel to it on some sips, but I am hopeful those will integrate more readily with some time in the cellar.
1994 Antinori Tignanello Toscana IGT. My wife and I purchased this on a trip to Tuscany back in the day, so it was a nice idea to open it for her on her birthday. The cork is fairly saturated, but there is no leaking evident at the top of the cork or in the capsule. I opened it about 4 hours ahead of time but did not decant. It immediately offers up aromas of old rawhide leather, soft tobacco, dry earth, licorice rope, dried cherries and an occasional glimpse of brighter raspberry fruit. It is gentle and resolved, with classy Old World goodness, but does slowly grow in volume and intensity over the course of the meal. In the mouth, it is on the dry side, for sure, and is showing a bit light in body. The texture is light-footed and a touch leathery, but there are really pretty top notes to it of sweet raspberries, cherry candies and a bit of fresh tartness around the edges. Underneath are deeper but not particularly dense flavors of dried red fruits and earth. There are no tannins at all and the acidity is playing a major but not undue role. It is not a big wine, rather one that is mellow, gently-spiced and softly red-fruited with juicy edginess. It is more than ready now and shows best with osso bucco, rather than sipping on its own, where it can turn a bit too thin and austere.
Cabernet and Syrah
2006 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley. This wine has a pretty straight ahead nose of black currants, sweet plum, dark vanilla and toasted oak. In the mouth, it is fleshy and open-knit, with sweet dark fruit, soft polished tannins and a good bit of oak. It doesn’t have much structure or bite, but offers some easily chuggable fruit.
2000 Saint-Cosme Cote-Rotie. I decanted this for about 3 hours before serving. It features a delightfully full and complex bouquet with all kinds of enticing aromas like grilled meat, worn rawhide, gravel, chocolate paste, black olives, pine pitch, smoked wood, exotic spices, lifted black cherries and deep mixed currants. Taste-wise, it is fairly explosive on the entry, with a big blast of berry fruit and lemon-squirt acidity that turn richer and more fanned out through the rich mid-palate that features lots of dark currant and juicy black cherry purity to go with supporting notes of fine earth and leather in abundance. It grows and grows in the glass, taking on increasingly more full-bore Syrah earthen and game meat characteristics. However, there are no hard edges anywhere, though there are definitely some finely-polished tannins stashed away in the back. The wine has a serious structure and backbone to it, but it allows the taster to keep the focus on the fresh, lifted fruit flavors, smooth texture and long mouthfeel. This was a really nice wine and absolutely shone with grilled lamb.
-Michael